DOG DAY AFTERNOON

According to the Kennel Club’s guidance, which is on their ‘Responsibility and Care leaflet.  “No matter how well trained or under control a dog might be, it should never be walked off lead in environmentally unsuitable areas or those that do not permit dogs to be off lead” .  Lets face it, there are people out there that do not like to interact with dogs. I know, weird, but listen. Many people have had frightening encounters with dogs just walking down the street. There are many other reasons why we dog owners should be a bit more appreciative of how other people think. People with mobility limitations, senior citizens, parents with children, people with assistance dogs, other dog owners who’s dogs are maybe reactive or sick, maybe in rehabilitation after surgery. I have a black Lab called Ben who last week just went through some major surgery to remove a Lipoma. Quite a large fatty lump about the size of a grapefruit hanging under his belly. But he is now just...

When you hear behaviourists talk about hierarchy they tend to talk about wolf packs and alpha leaders. What does all that mean though and why do you need to know about it when interacting with your four legged friend. All you want to do is take him for a walk and play fetch. You want to be able to call him and he comes running happily to your side. And when he does something wrong you only have to say “No that’s enough”. So do I need to know anything about hierarchy for that? Well actually yes you do. Let me explain. Now to begin with i’m not going to tell you that your dog is a wolf, because it’s not. Nor is it a small person in a furry coat. But recent research suggests that your dog is a sub species of the grey wolf and the its name was changed in 1993 from Canis Lupis, to Canis Familiaris to reflect that it is a sub species of the grey wolf. Offcourse man has changed the appearance of this sub species over many decades to the many varieties of shapes and sizes of the dog w...

When Wally Conron created the Labradoodle he opened up a can of worms. He is reported now as saying he made a mistake. What followed was an explosion of ‘designer’ dogs. From Cockapoo (cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle), a Puggle (a Beagle and a Pug), a Shih Poo ( a Shih tzu and a Poodle) a Goli ( a Golden Retriever and a Collie), and a Jackaroo (a Jack Russell and a Poodle). There are countless more I am sure and no doubt more to follow. But it started me thinking. I rescued a Northern Inuit from Dogs Trust a few years a go. The behaviourist there told me that was her breed description, albeit Northern Inuits are not a recognised breed by the Kennel Club in the UK yet. But it got me thinking, is Northern Inuit the right name for her or should she be called something else in line with the variations above. Northern Inuits were originally cross bred between German Shepherds and Huskies, or German Shepherds and Alaskan Malamutes. the idea was that the breeder wanted something t...